Never Let Go!

By Ann Shayne 12/2/08

Dear Kay,
What a glorious batch of movies. Thank you, everybody, for such brilliant suggestions. So many of these are new to me. I wish we could have a film festival where we could watch all 200 of them, back to back. Think of the knitting, the group therapy, the ultimate disconnect from reality.
I think I’ll start with Mary B’s suggestion, because I was intrigued that she was so affected that she couldn’t think of a movie to pair with it.
The mere trailer for A Very Long Engagement is like The English Patient, Cold Mountain, and Atonement all in one. (See it here; Jeunet directed the beloved Amelie.) Bombs! Frolicking youths in glowy green pastures! Great clothes! A lot of crying and all-around desperation! I’ll even put up with subtitles if it means I get to see whether Audrey Tatou finds that dreamy guy who disappears into the trenches of World War I.
I especially appreciate hearing from those of you who lean toward the dark, the unrequited, the doomed. Toni, I think you get a special citation for watching Munich and Schindler’s List at Christmastime. Good grief, woman, that’s stout.
Speakin a which, my Margaret sweater sleeve constipation turns out to have been totally foolish: a grand total of 78 narrow, decreasy rows was all that kept me from finishing the sleeves. So much fear and dread, such a big fat nothin when you get right down to it.
Love,
Ann

Gotta love The House of Mirth. You’ll be changed forever. The unsung hero of Edith Wharton novels. Then queue up Brokeback Mountain…all that longing.
And if you’re feeling it for James McAvoy, watch Becoming Jane and Penelope back to back. Talk about clothes and shoes and sets!

The movie poster for this Audrey Tatou movie reminds me of The Pillow Book which is a Ewan McGregor movie by Peter Greenaway which was another favorite director in college. Dr. Gibson showed Prospero’s Books in Senior Colloquium and I loved all the other movies I saw by him–“The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover?” So great! Anyway, so I rented Pillow Book and thought it was HORRIBLE and also I tired of seeing Ewan McGregor’s very generous member and I never thought I’d ever say that.
Worse, it made me think ill of Dr. Gibson as though it were her fault Peter Greenaway was making porn and for that I’ll never forgive the film.
But this Audrey Tatou movie looks good. I’ll have to Netflix it. “Dirty Pretty Things”? Have you seen that? Liked it a lot.

hi ya – Any Jeunet film is super – he cares about people – and wants to make a MOVIE as well! Atonement is also super that battlefield shot in one go !! – try and catch same director’s Pride and Predujice – some die hard Janeites do not like it, but I do ! Donald Sutherland is MY Mr Bennett – he made this hard girl cry! – Pillow book – oh so boring! Age of innocence – SCORSESE DOES COSTUME DRAMA – that may be an interesting double –

I haven’t seen this movie of Mary B’s–but it’s already on my all-time faves list–how could it NOT be? I think it should be paired with Truly, Madly, Deeply. Or for a triple-feature, with T,M,D and Wings of Desire. There is nothing like a good relationship with someone not actually “with us”. NOTHING. The dead loves do not disappoint.
OMG, Rachel–The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover! Nearly did me in! My idolatry of Helen Mirren started THERE. Of course I can only remember the, um, dinner scene. I may have even left the theatre at that point. “I’m leaving!/I love it!/I’m walking out!/It’s wonderful!”
Coolest kitchen I’ve ever been in has the poster from Cook/Thief/etc. hanging in it. THE KITCHEN. (Props to Lauren!)
xo Kay

Angsty-ish with happy tones
Wings of Desire(Peter Falk!)
and Bread and Tulips(disgruntled italian housewife leaves her husband, works in flower ship in Venice and relearns to play the accordian!) Speaking of Peter Falk do not underestimate the fun of a Columbo marathon the early ones are really good and they have excellent 1970’s costumes. I miss my purple bell bottoms.

I want to add the movie ‘The Live of Others’ to the list. It has the disadvantage of being in German, so subtitles could get in the way of knitting time. But don’t let that discourage you. The movie is fantastic. True Cinema. 5 stars. Plus, there is always garter stitch right 😉

I feel compelled to offer a caveat: we just watched A Very Long Engagement, the husband and I. (A friend calls it A Very Long Movie). I had read the book (which I loved), I speak French, and I think that I would have found it Very Hard to Follow, without already knowing the story (subtitle-reading husband agrees). That said, it’s BEAUTIFUL to look at, as one would expect.

Map of the Human Heart – very romantic & tragic. I don’t know if it’s even in print now though. How about Dr Zhivago? Can’t get much more tragic & doomed than that. The recent version with Keira Knightly was actually quite good.

Have you seen Antonia’s Line? It’s got wonderful dowdy dresses and solid, no-nonsense Antonia the post-war Dutch woman who creates a farm and extended family starting with just herself and her daughter. Grimly cheerful.

Now I’m deffo going to have to see VLE. All these recs! Sounds very interesting.
Kay, the Cook, Thief, etc. was costumed by Gautier! And that is when my love affair with him started! I love the clothes in that movie. And the kitchen poster! LOL! That’s a great visual pun. And also a little gross, now that I think about it.
Am I a bad person because I hated Dr. Zhivago?

Toni must be stout-hearted, indeed, to get through two serious Spielbergs in one go. At least she didn’t watch the WWII one, as well. Our recommendations are for two wonderful Israeli films, “Yossi and Jagger” and “Monsieur…..,” shoot, I can’t remember the rest of the name; it’s about a boy with a highly dysfunctional family which he is trying to hold together. It’s fairly new. Both are real, funny and touching, all at the same time.

I had read “A Very Long Engagement” just before reading “Atonement” and had a very thoughtful and quiet winter that year. I love to watch the movie after I read the book, not as an either / or but as an addition. To see what the characters looked like in someone else’s mind, you know?

My favorite double feature? Cape Fear (squared, i guess). The original version with Robert Mitchum as the bad guy, and then the modern version with DeNiro. I think the original is scarier, and no whining Winona Ryder.

If we’re talking depressing and creepy, how come no one’s mentioned Sam Fuller or David Lynch. I’d suggest starting with one of my favorites, the unsung, and, frankly, usually despised, The Naked Kiss, surely one of the oddest movies ever made (and according to many of my friends, the worst)–bald prostitute meets secretly depraved Middle America. Then follow it with Blue Velvet so you can see all the references Lynch made to the earlier one. Both are hilarious and ghastly all at once.

yes – TMD – one of my faves – nearly all my best actors/tresses in the one film – plus the lovely ghosts with the video player!_ CITY OF LOST CHILDREN _ one of my faves as well _ yes the costumesyes – TMD – one of my faves – nearly all my best actors/tresses in the one film – plus the lovely ghosts with the video player!_ CITY OF LOST CHILDREN _ one of my faves as well _ yes the costumes< but also a seasonal film as well as Jeunet and CARO!!!

my family tradition was to watch an alien movie at christmas (you know with those things that birthed from your rib cage). my father’s idea was that we wouldn’t have to worry about reserving a video because the series would always be in. last year i took him to a v. p for his christmas present to complete the cycle.